June 16, 22XX- Maverick Hunter Base
At that moment in time, X's life sucked.
There were Maverick reports nonstop, giving him no rest whatsoever. He was currently counting 3 days without any sleep. However, between his neglected battle wounds and low energy, there was something that pained X far more.
Zero was gone.
Zero had admitted himself into a high-end research institution when he regained his memories of his creation 200 years ago in another one of his freak dreams. To his horror, he also realized that he was the original main carrier of the Maverick Virus (hence the name Zero, as in Patient Zero).
It didn't stop there. the nanites that comprised his bloodstream and organs were the same type of nanites that allowed the virus to become air or water borne. In a sense, he was the virus, and by proxy the instigator of the Maverick Wars. However, he still remained hopeful that the war could end. That the scientists at the institute could be able to reverse-engineer a cure from his body and end the long, bloody conflict that he had inadvertently started.
The revelation had crushed both of them.
X woke up to a dull blue-gray plaster ceiling, peppered with chips and cracks. There were pipes snaking about and the occasional vents popping up from seemingly random places. The air smelled sterile and reeked of medicine and oil.
Looks like I'm in the med bay again. Well damn.
"X...a..k..g..dn...s…" X groggily blinked, trying to make out the voice that echoed near his face. A bit too close to his face, actually. Hadn't it ever heard of personal space?
"X...c..n...yo….ear...e..?" That face was even closer now. X could see that it was rimmed with blonde. Rimmed... with blonde. That most certainly was a valid phrase in the English language.
"X!" The voice (X could now tell it was a she) was starting to get testy.
"Nnghh…" Why was the voice even there? It was violating his personal space and he just wanted to go back to sleep and screw everything else.
SMACK! A sharp pain stung X's face, courtesy of a hard slap. It kept repeating itself until the voice suddenly became loud.
"GODDAMIT X WAKE THE FUCKING HELL UP NOW OR ELSE I WILL PERSONALLY GO TO THE STORAGE ROOM AND CASTRATE YOU WITH A VICE!"
X's vision finally snapped into focus after a few moments of shock.
"Hi Alia. That was painful." Alia in turn blushed in embarrassment from her little outburst.
"S-sorry." she stammered. "I was just so worried about you, and well… I just sort of lost my marbles there."
"Ssss'alright" X slurred. "So… why am I here again?"
"You passed out. Damn, I have no idea how you lasted three days, what with no sleep and all those wounds. That hole in your abdomen was pretty badly infected…"
Now for a lesson in Reploid Biology 101. Many modern viruses were carried by nanites that in turn carried the virus coding itself. They behaved much like human viruses. The reploid body reacted similarly to a human's: it would raise its internal temperature to attack and kill the heat vulnerable nanites in case of illness.
The virus nanites could take material from reploid nanomachines to build new nanites, and the reploid's body would in turn release defense nanited to kill the virus carriers. The virus nanites tended to clog around the orifice from which they entered, so most of the fighting between the body and the virus would be held there. The resulting collateral damage irritated the area and provided crevices in which virus survivors could hide and multiply again, resulting in an "infection".
Meanwhile, the anesthetic used to put X under (because shutting down the body would also shut down the virus defenses, thus giving the virus free reign over the reploid) while the medical team closed and disinfected his wounds were composed of specialty nanites that stored and released an electronic code impulse known as ADN. The nanites would target certain ADN receptors in the CPU and release their payload.
Much like the connection between adenosine and its respective receptors in the human brain, the absorption of ADN caused drowsiness (bizarrely enough, the addition of caffeine does exactly the same thing as it would do to a human brain: it blocks off ADN. The alert center of the CPU in turn sees the clogged flow as a problem and releases adrenaline, resulting in hyperactivity and alertness). Reploid CPUs naturally produced ADN signals in order to enable sleep mode, but large amounts of ADN such as in the anesthetic would cause a lapse of consciousness and numbness over the entire body.
Heh, reploids really were getting to be just like humans.
After the excess ADN cleared away from X's systems. one thing became clear to him. The hot blonde girl that he had a crush on ever since the Gate incident was actually worried about him! This made X excited, and as you all know excitement puts stress on one's body.
As a result, X was passed out again in no time.
Fan-freaking-tastic.
A few hours and needles later, X was up and about the base once more. At the moment, it appeared that he was just in time, for a mission debriefing was to be held for all active hunters. X sighed. He was not looking forward to this. Especially when it reminded him of Zero, who attended the last meeting…
In front of the massive projector settled within the Control Room's floor, Signas stepped onto the podium, an air of professionalism, seriousness, and… worry? on his face.
"Hunters." he declared. "As you all know the Maverick readings since the Giga City incident have been skyrocketing." X mentally cringed at the mention of Giga City, the betrayal of Spider still fresh on his mind. "However, our navigators have been able to identify a pattern in the various incidents."
This piqued the hunters' interest. Maverick attacks were usually wild and erratic, and didn't have a particular pattern other than spreading outwards due to the virus multiplying…
Unless they had a leader.
A strong sense of dread settled over X's war-worn heart, while Zero had what can only be described as a "here we go again…" look on his face. Axl, standing on his toes at the back of the crowd, just looked excited, trigger happy, and vaguely insane at the prospect of going on a new mission. After all, he was a hero!
"We believe that if the Mavericks are being directed by a leader, then the pattern of attacks points out that they're after a particular district of warehouses in West Arcadia." The projector suddenly flickered to life, showing the aforementioned area. "Among these warehouses lies a storage silo of a new prototype energy source to be shipped and tested." The projector flashed, changing the image to a 3-D hologram of a pale blue-green crystalline structure.
"This," Signas declared, "Is a new supercell fuel source known as an energy crystal, or E-crystal for short. If the simulations are correct, then consumption of E-crystals results in a higher rotor-efficiency rate, increased circo-vitality and of course extra energy." A collective murmur of awe emerged from the group of hunters.
Axl gave a low whistle. "That has to be the most interesting and relevant string of techno-babble I've ever heard." His opinion was awarded by a knock to the back of the head courtesy of Zero. Signas ignored this and continued.
"Due to the vast potential of these experimental E-crystals and the attack history including theft of high grade ceratanium components, we believe that the individual orchestrating these attacks is after a heavy-duty fuel source to power a machine of some kind, most likely a superweapon."
"Who could it be?" A random hunter in the back known simply as Rickshaw asked. Everyone else turned towards him,collectively glaring daggers.
"Take a wild guess." Zero said, quoting the late Split Mushroom. Rickshaw blinked in surprise, before realization slowly set in.
"Ohhh… Señor Buttchin?"
Insert awkward silence. Then Axl's hyenalike laughter. Zero walked up to Rickshaw and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Dude, if you ever get a chance to go up to the front lines and actually say that to his face, then I will literally be your bitch for the rest of forever. But seriously, how did you not immediately know it was Sigma? I dropped out of high school and I even figured it out…"
"He's a newbie. Give him a rest, man." Axl piped, weaving his way to the front of the room.
"Kid, nobody likes you." Zero replied. "Even after your balls miraculously dropped and your voice stopped sounding like a prepubescent Justin Beiber."
That pissed him off. With an indignant snarl, Axl pounced at Zero's throat, or would have if he wasn't being held back by a single finger.
"Ha! Try all you want, kiddo. I'm an SA-class hunter for a goddamned reason, you know." Zero responded.
Eventually X broke those two idiots up. Zero clearly never thought very highly of Axl, the apparent village idiot of the hunter base. It didn't help that Axl was notorious for stealing other hunters' lunches from the fridge, including Zero's one not-so-fine day. That meant certain death by any standard.
The meeting droned on. Blah blah, Mavericks. Blah blah stop Sigma blah blah.
X sighed, ending his reverie upon entering the command room. Zero told him about the sealing right after that, and how it couldn't be stopped. It brought stinging tears to his eyes, though he dared not to play back the memory in his mind. It wouldn't do to have the current greatest Maverick hunter in existence to suddenly break down sobbing in front of everyone, after all.
He noticed two seconds too late that Axl had closed the fridge and made off with his lunch again. Yep, his life certainly was hell.